I’ve completely disposed of my remaining Sirius Real Estate (SRE:LN) holding. [I previously noted a small sale in August, reducing my portfolio stake to 2.8%]. This is a rare event – in the past year, my selling’s been mostly limited to top-slicing as certain stocks neared/exceeded my price target(s). Crikey, I must sound like a bloody buy & hold investor!? Rarer still, I think it’s only my second disposal of an investment that clearly hasn’t been working out. [Cresud (CRESY:US) was the first – a v different macro decision. Fortunately, the right decision…the stock’s down nearly 25% since!]

I actually managed to avoid a loss in both instances – not what you’d expect from stocks that haven’t worked out..! Obviously, there was plenty of luck involved – but I’d definitely credit a good entry price as a key saving grace. Having the discipline to demand an adequate margin of safety for each purchase isn’t just about increasing your potential upside – it can also save your bloody ass when things go wrong. Let’s take a closer look (using my original Sirius post for reference) & see if there’s anything to learn here:

Investment Opportunity & Crisis Hedge: My investment thesis identified German property as a secular investment opportunity – it’s cheap in absolute terms, the German economy’s perhaps the most resilient in Europe, and Bund yields remain incredibly supportive. I continue to believe this thesis is correct, but actual property & share price gains to date have been mostly enjoyed by the residential sector. [Check out my German property series: Parts I to V]. I also suggested German property might be a good hedge against any further unraveling of the European sovereign debt crisis. Fortunately, sentiment’s improved dramatically this year – it’s interesting to see German residential share prices peak & then trade sideways/lower for much of the year, as investors migrated back into higher risk European exposure.

Green REIT (GRN:ID) is Ireland’s first real estate investment trust. And the first ISE main market listing in over 5 years (a shock for the somnolent exchange staff, I’m sure). In fact, the IPO was so unprecedented, even the Minister for Finance turned up – here’s his speech! Not to mention the press, who fell on the story like a pack of dogs. But really, what do you expect? If there’s one thing that unites people, it’s a fervent desire for property to increase in value. Which is particularly true of Ireland, especially now – we blew the bubble we had, and Lord we so desperately want it back…

Yes, bored real estate agents want to treat buyers like scum & regain the respect they deserve. Mortgage holders just want to return to break-even, so they can finally relax & enjoy those gigantic monthly mortgage payments for the next 20 years. Old tyme reporters are sick of being forced to write real (i.e. non-property & interior design) stories, while their ad departments are tired of calling ’round begging for business. The banks dread visiting their own bank manager (NAMA & the Dept. of Finance) – while acting the gombeen with recalcitrant borrowers is somewhat problematic when they were reduced to beggary themselves not so long ago. As for the politicians, they just want to close their eyes & wake up when everything’s alright again…and then take all the credit! Finally, we have the poor old taxpayer…he just dreams of getting back to the good old days.

Because property solves all problems – doesn’t it?!

But I have to confess, I’m more than a little fascinated by the Green REIT IPO. Is it me, or did we just hit an inflection point? Could this be a new zeitgeist we’re witnessing? Well, if the collective national psyche could will it, Ireland’s certainly right about bloody due now… Oh boy, that’s a huge subject to tackle – for the moment, why don’t we take a closer look at:

I’ve made no secret of my disdain for dividends, or that category of dividend/income investors who seem to be just plain mental..! Especially the USvariety of the breed, it must be said. 😉 I was even moved to write a dividend series: ‘Chasing Some Dividend Tail..?’, Parts I, II & III. I recall some of you enjoying it – and believe me, it was just as much fun writing it! But as with all moral arbiters, there eventually comes a mea culpa– ‘I have sinned, oh Lord…butI was seduced in a moment of weakness!’ And here’s mine, replete with tears:

Note I don’tmean their ordinary shares(RUS:LN) – I invested in their preference shares(RUSP:LN). I bought them in late 2009, so my purpose here isn’t to produce a new write-up – but rather to offer what might hopefully be a useful primer for analyzing & buying similar instruments. [Well, at some point – in the current climate, good credit opportunities are becoming increasingly rare. But see this Tetragon Financial (TFG:NA) write-up – though TFG sports a v different level of risk]. Of course, that’s really only useful if I can reproduce my original analysis & perspective – with the help of the financials & my notes from that period, I think I can do just that (hopefully eliminating the benefit of hindsight as much as possible).

As with Agri, some of my recent posts will overlap. I should obviously point you to my series on German Residential Property, Post I to Post V – it offers an in-depth look at my allocation & stock selection approach to Property. This culminated in a recent stock-pick I’m v pleased with: KWG Kommunale Wohnen (BIW:GR), a 5.1% portfolio holding.

At EUR 5.475, it’s up +6% since my write-up a month ago (and +9% from my actual avg. entry price). It’s clearly left resistance at EUR 5.25-32 trailing in the dust, and the next EUR 5.60-80 resistance now beckons. A possible break of EUR 6.10-20 in due course may suggest the share’s ready to muscleits way far higher. It’s fascinating to note that price level corresponds to a KWG market cap of about EUR 100 mio: Which isprecisely the level I highlighted as a possible sweet spot for the market to award KWG a significantly higher price/book valuation!

You know, I’m not much of a stock screener – I mean why ruin a day of reading annual reports instead?! 😉 But I do think property stocks lend themselves v nicely to a stock screening approach (Stockopedia, of course!) – there’s only a couple of key variables on which you really need to focus. In fact, let me suggest a stock selection strategy, a la Joel Greenblatt:

Continued from here. A 5-part series might seem like overkill – hmm, I’ve done worse 😉 – hopefully, you found something useful in each post. And, of course, I wanted to illustrate the research (& contemplation) required for any real investment edge in your stock-picking & portfolio. Peer/sector analysis may perhaps be the most rewarding component – though it drives me to distraction occasionally…

Picture it: You come across a random gem – you suspect it’s best of breed & should be pounced upon asap! Instead you take a breath, step back & force yourself to research it (and its peers) from all conceivable angles. Meanwhile, your gem’s share price begins to ascend rapidly, and you’re totally missing out… I’m suffering that with one idea I want to exploit – the apparent gem of the sector’s jumped 20%+, gahhh!

But investing isn’t a sprint, it’s an (often painful) marathon. We all remember a satisfying quick-fire buy that worked out, but we’re really just trying to forget the pain of misguided duds… Disasters we might perhaps have avoided if we’d researched them a little more, or picked the better horse. Research & patience are ultimately far more profitable than grabbing the first nice stock you see. Also, peer/sector analysis is essential to my preferred approach to investment:

[btw The residential focus here doesn’t imply a commercialproperty aversion. Sure, it may be more economically sensitive than residential, but many of the positive factors I’ve highlighted equally apply. In fact, I’ve only one complaint about German commercial property – my exposure to it unfortunately limits my exposure to residential property!

I track listed commercial property companies also – but not as closely, and I’ve no plans to write a similar series. For me, Sirius Real Estate (SRE:LN) (a 3.3% portfolio holding) stands head & shoulders above its peers in terms of its risk vs. reward proposition. Its current property valuation & yield, occupancy rate, colossal 66% discount to NAV, plus the presence of multiple activist investors on its board/register, all offer significant operational & share price upsidepotential. SRE does have significant debt maturing in the next year, but its latest Net LTV of 61.3% equals the peeraverage & doesn’t appear to present any real re-financing (or other) threat to shareholders. Fresh news of property sales would quickly push Net LTV to sub-60%, highlight the current NAV discount & attract new investor attention.]

Germany’s by far the largest & strongest (major) economy in Europe, with an averagereal GDP growth rate in excess of +3.3% in 2010 & 2011. Growth remains positive in 2012, while 2013 GDP growth’s forecast to be +1.7%. Far better than most EU growth rates in the same period…

It’s one of the few countries with a primary budget surplus. Actually bested by Italy, what a surprise! Germany’s Debt/GDP ratio at 81.6% isn’t much better (also surprising) than the EU average of 88.2%. But the majority of citizens (& investors) remain supremely confident in Germany’s ability to manage its own finances – and rightly so, I believe. [An important point to make: Now, really, an 88% Debt/GDP ratio? What crisis..!? I think not. I’d venture we can trace the current market hysteria squarely back to the bumbling & foot-dragging of Europe’s politicians. A clear message for US politicians as they merrily race down their own fiscal/debt Highway to Hell. An inability to learn from history’s unfortunate, but perhaps forgivable – an inability to learn from today’s headlines, however, just makes you a complete f**king idiot,sir!]

German residential property’s been described (particularly recently) as:

‘Perhapsone of the safest & most attractive asset classes in Europe, or even the world‘.

OK, seems like typical talking-head hyperbole! But in this instance, I’d really have to agree… In fact, I’ve agreed with that thesis for the last couple of years now, and v profitably too! Whenever somebody I meet tugs my sleeve for an investment tip, that’s exactly what I offer up (in all good conscience): German residential property is a safe & compelling long term investment. Hmm…it’s amusing, and extraordinary, how rapidly most people lose interest in such a dull recommendation! Which just goes to show:

i) I guess most people are truly just looking for a tip…in the v worst sense of the word. Perplexing..!? Do they have some bizarre faith I can conjure up, at will, a stock that’s sure to double for them within a week!? Is this really how some people think investing works? In the end, it illustrates how few people walk the talk – they just don’t apply themselves & follow through consistently with their investing. Often, when they actually decide to invest, it seems like their decision may just boil down to the persuasiveness of the ‘tipper’, rather than the merits of the actual stock thesis!

Oh well, back to the grind..! Continued from here, and I guess here: I actually started writing this post the other day, but quickly got side-tracked into a different post – after all, one can’t really talk about real assets without first taking on inflation! For reference, here’s a reprint of my investment allocationpie-chart:

OK folks, I was pondering an introductory blog post as I wrestled with the WordPress setup, and finally thought why not just jump in and get on with it! Maybe I’ll dispense with some of the formalities later, meanwhile here are some thoughts on: